Cheese mite

Cheese mites under magnification

Cheese mites are mites which live in food, grain and plant leaves.

They are sometimes found in flour but prefer cheese.[1] Refrigerated cheese is not usually affected as they prefer warm, damp foods.[1] Cheese mites are used to make certain cheeses. Milbenkäse and Mimolette are two examples.[2] The action of the mites on the surface of these cheeses adds to the flavor.[3] It also gives them a distinctive appearance. A 2010 SEM study found that Milbenkäse cheese was produced using Tyrolichus casei mites, while Mimolette cheese used Acarus siro mites (also known as flour mites).[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Andrew Solway 2004. What's Living in Your Kitchen? (Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library, p. 8
  2. ↑ Michael H. Tunick 2014. The Science of Cheese New York: Oxford University Press, p. 228
  3. ↑ Thalassa Skinner; Ming Tsai; Laurel Miller 2012. Cheese for dummies. Hoboken: Wiley, p. 154.
  4. ↑ Melnyk J.P.; et al. (2010). "Identification of cheese mite species inoculated on Mimolette and Milbenkase cheese through cryogenic scanning electron microscopy". Journal of Dairy Science. 93 (8): 3461–3468. doi:10.3168/jds.2009-2937. PMID 20655414. Retrieved 7 September 2011.